


Learning To Wait

by combefemme



Category: Young Avengers
Genre: Canon Compliant, F/M, Prompt Fic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-04-18
Updated: 2014-04-18
Packaged: 2018-01-19 19:53:49
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 547
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1481929
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/combefemme/pseuds/combefemme
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Tommy learns to wait.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Learning To Wait

**Author's Note:**

> For the prompt "he must learn to wait" from tumbr user rec-rewind

Patience has never been one of Tommy's strengths.

He hates standing in line. He hates watching commercials. He hates loading screens. In short, Tommy Shepherd hates waiting.

So, when he'd met Kate he hadn't made any real effort to hide the fact that he was into her. He'd still been wearing prison garb when he'd told her it was good to hear she didn't have a boyfriend. And he hadn't wasted any time in asking her out.

Of course, it was barely two hours after their date that he'd walked in on her making out with Eli. Apparently, Kate Bishop doesn't like wasting time, either.

Now, of course, if feels like all they've ever done is waste time.

She'd dated Eli for over a year. Tommy had spent most of that time in the background, waiting in the wings. And, while part of him has to admit that he was almost rooting for them -- they are his friends, after all -- mostly he's just not that selfless. Tommy had spent that year-and-then-some waiting for them to break up so he could have his shot with her and he knows it.

It took everything going to hell for that to actually happen, though.

Kate lost her best friend and Eli left. The whole team fell apart. Not exactly the best circumstances for Tommy to make his move.

And, honestly, Tommy wasn't in a great place for it at the time, either.

He suddenly had a family, and maybe even a decent one. Okay, so maybe his grandfather was a known terrorist and maybe his mom had kind of gone atomic that one time and killed some people and maybe his uncle was a bit of an asshole with a sketchy-at-best record and maybe his brother was definitely a huge nerd but, hey, he'll take them over the parents he left back in Jersey any day. At least they don't think he's a freak.

Tommy and Kate had more or less gone their separate ways after that. She'd started working with Barton and he'd, well, he'd just started working. He hadn't wanted to give up heroing, but he also hadn't wanted to stop eating or having a place to live. Some compromises had to be made.

And then he'd gone missing. Apparently.

He doesn't actually remember any of this, but apparently he'd been gone for months. Kidnapped by some kind of interdemensional demon in a Patriot cosplay.

(God, when did words like 'cosplay' enter his vocabulary? He spends too much time with Billy)

When he'd found himself at that party and seen her on that dancefloor it was like something had clicked into place. Kate was as beautiful as she ever was and Tommy was done waiting. He'd grabbed her by the wrist, pulled under the lights, and as the countdown hit zero, kissed her like he'd always wanted to.

Luckily, she had been happy to kiss him back. He doesn't know what he would've done if she hadn't. Probably gotten his ass beat.

That had been their real beginning. Not when she'd tackled him outside the prison. Not when he'd kissed her in the elevator. Their beginning had been that night, on that dancefloor, under those lights.

And, as it turns out, Kate Bishop is well worth the wait.


End file.
